Sonntag, September 28, 2008

Due to exclusive aristocrat privileges, this German count can announce that on October 12th, the frenchified TV channel "France 3" will show King Vidor's recently found and restored "Bardelys The Magnificent" (1926) as part of the program "Cinéma de Minuit" conducted by Herr Patrick Brion.

Obviously this German count has an exclusive box at the Schloss theatre in order to re-watch this motion picture by Herr Vidor ( not to say that this Herr Von during his youthful and unworried years was at the premiere of that American film… ). It will be an important happening for all those silent film fans around the world to watch a film that it was considered lost until recent years.

Samstag, September 27, 2008

The European aristocracy have had always a special fondness and interest in decadent sports; elegant hobbies the object of which is to avoid any physical effort that might cause sweat and thus spoil the rice powder on their pale faces.

Having in mind these special characteristics, only the scarce bold ones show an interest for, MEIN GOTT!!... intellectual sports!!... like chess, a very complicated sport for this German count. Chess is important in “Le Joueur d’échecs”, together with European war disputes among Poles and Russians ( for once, Germans were not involved in such domestic affairs ) and a passionate and patriotic love story, all in a film directed by the French Herr Raymond Bernard.

“Le Jouer d’échecs” is a strange, interesting but failed oeuvre, a mixture of “fantastique” and historical film not well combined; it seems that Herr Bernard 's artistic ambitions eluded his grasp, in a film unevenly paced and over-long.

The successful elements of “Le Joueur d’échecs” are the historical events ( the resistance of the Polish nobility in front of the Russian omnipotence ) and the atmosphere, especially during the first part of the oeuvre in which a curious and vigorous camera captures carefully the different surroundings involved in those martial conflicts.

Another interesting aspect of the film are the bizarre robots designed by the Baron von Kempelen ( Herr Charles Dullin ), strange automatons that give to the film an eerie atmosphere, classicism entwined with early technology. This stands out very much at the end of the film depicting a phantasmagorical and peculiar revenge of the robots.

So we have a combination of historical film with powerfully and excessive patriotic Polish elements ( obviously, the Russian are again the bad ones ) together with XVIII century robots and a classical love story involving a revolutionary ( Herr Pierre Blanchar ) and the symbol of that revolution ( Dame Édith Jéhanne ) entwined with Russian court intrigues that involve Dame Catherine II of Russia herself and a machine that plays chess; certainly, Herr Bernard didn’t like simple or easy plots…

The superb art direction of the film, in which set design, lavish settings and costumes gives the audience the feeling of the Centre European XVIII epoch is perhaps Herr Bernard's major accomplishment in the film but the Pole-Russian intrigues ( film narrative in standby ) sometimes seem a mere excuse for the décor . The love story is obvious and predictable and performed by uninspired actors. Particularly stiff is Herr Charles Dullin, who is surpassed by his own robots who show more emotion and facial gestures than their creator.

“Le Joueur d’échecs” is an ambitious film that aims for excellence but precisely due to those many various and diversified elements is not well assembled by Herr Bernard and must be regarded as a failure, a good example, as a German proverb said: “that you can bite off more than you can chew”.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must keep in check some Teutonic rich heiress.

Donnerstag, September 18, 2008

It is unforgivable for this German count that after three years of aristocratic and silent comments in this modern diary, nothing has been said yet about my wonderful country man Herr Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, the offence is greater still given the greatness of this director.

So, to repair this gross negligence and in order to begin a new exciting silent autumn season at the Schloss, this German count has decided to choose one of his lesser known and early surviving films: “Der Gang In Die Nacht”. This masterpiece was thought to be lost until, fortunately and by chance, as always happens in these cases, some years ago a copy was discovered between some boxes of negatives in the East Berlin's “Staatliches Filmarchiv” , and thanks to the Cinèmathèque Française's restoration it can be seen again.

It is important to bear in mind that this is the oldest surviving film from Herr Murnau available nowadays, and if we remember the fact that practically all his earlier work has been lost forever, this one has an enormous cinematographic interest. Since all his previous works are unknown, “Der Gang In Die Nacht” is, undoubtedly, his first great master piece, an exceptional melodrama.

The plot tells us about a doctor, Eigil Borne, who is engaged to Hélène, a girl who is madly in love with him but who wants to develop the relationship in a quiet and formal manner, so it won't interfere with his promising professional career.

During Hélène birthday celebration, Eigil invites her to a cabaret, where he meets his other love, Lily, a passionate, fiery and funny dancer.

Lily takes notice of the doctor during her performance, and to try to overcome his indifference towards her performance (this is a very Germanic man, focused in his job and without any erotic thoughts), she fakes a twisted ankle, so his medical services become a necessity. Even though he later discovers the charade, he falls in love with the dancer anyway and asks his abnegated fiancée to postpone the wedding. Soon after, Eigil and Lily get married and go to live in a very quiet little fishing town.

It is in this town where they meet a painter who has recently lost his sight. Eigil, a noted ophthalmologist, operates on him with success returning to him his vision. This was a total professional success with terrible personal consequences because his wife falls deeply in love with the painter.Eigil will let them live their lives and he will dedicate his body and spirit to his promising and successful opthalmologic profession, living a sad, tormented and unhappy existence.One day he receives Lily’s unexpected visit. She needs his exceptional opthalmologic services again to operate on her beloved because he is going blind again. The doctor, full of hate and resentment towards her decides that he will only operate on him if she, MEIN GOTT!!! takes her own life.

Lily will fulfill such an incredible request as an act of love towards both, her ex husband and her lover.Herr Eigil, completely heartbroken again when he realizes that his hideous wishes have been fulfilled, receives a friendly letter from her ex-wife’s lover, where he expresses his apology for causing him so much pain and suffering, and thanks him for giving him the opportunity of seeing Lily, his greatest love.The next day, doctor Eigil is found dead in his studio.

We are faced with a really melodramatic story, full of passion, with a masterful script from Herr Carl Mayer who distils poetry in a story than runs a scarce 61 minutes of duration.Herr Carl Mayer’s script and Herr Murnau’s job are good examples of what it is denominated in expressionist German cinema, as “Stimmung”, which refers to the atmosphere, the ambience so easily recognised in these productions, like the perfect conjunction between the human being, his doubts, fears and everything that surrounds him and influences him. This refers to his closest settings: his house, his furniture, his belongings; as well as the great protagonist Nature with its rain, shadows, lights...

This German count have to say, that even though the copy that has survived it is not a complete one due to some missing sequence but thanks to Herr Mayer’s hand written script, these sequences have been able to survive through the literature for the total enjoyment of this genius German director’s master piece.The perfect combination between Herr Mayer and Herr Murnau’s work produced memorable scenes in this great film work.

Let’s start pointing out the arrival of the blind painter to the town: he arrives in a boat, standing in it, between the shadows, powerfully showing off his silhouette where the sky meets the sea which forms the plane suggesting a strong presence, a ghostly one. We see Lily, who is saying goodbye to her husband who's off to visit his patients, observing the painter getting close to her door and she follows him during his passage with a mix of surprise and fascination, foreshadowing the fact that the happiness reigning in the house until then will be threatened, because something has seduced Dame Lily in a subtle and irremediable way.

Equally magnificent is the scene that will establish Herr Eigil’s betrayal. The doctor removes the bandages covering his face at 6 pm. Lily fears that once the painter recovers his vision, her secret love will be hard to hide. It is shown in an exceptional montage when the fatidic time approaches, the sea, which was calm until now, starts to become turbulent foretelling that the event that was thought to be a happy one, will have fatal consequences for the married couple.Herr Murnau will return to the same initial plane as when the blind painter arrived in the town, but this time with the doctor as the main character who has come from visiting his old girlfriend who is agonising from the pain caused by the unexpected and quick break up from her former but still loved fiancée. The same threatening sensation of unexpected arrival will alert the spectator this time to know that terrible things await the doctor.

When he finally discovers his wife’s deceit, the irate doctor will get away by running from the cliff where he found them, cursing his fate, and again the quiet and calm weather that the adulterous couple had before, will transform into a threatening storm.Nature is again an important character for the film, for a story that needs to explain the human frustrations, those disappointments that his characters go through the film in an earthy and archaic way.

There are intertitles in the movie that are really beautiful, full of that poetry that you can find in all of Herr Murnau's work.Let's remember anyway that the German director thought that intertitles were not necessary to tell a story because the images, by themselves, had to carry the protagonism with the seducing power to tell the stories without “explanatory subtitles”. However, it is well known that during his first period, Murnau used these intertitles very often counting on them to inform in different ways his stories, affirming specially the characters’ feelings, thoughts and sensations.For example, during a scene of the first visit from the doctor to the blind painter, he will be seated in his garden “looking” at a canvas; when the doctor stops next to him, he says: “a prayer for the grace of sight”.

All the drama, suffering and hopes of the tormented painter stay perfectly exposed, giving much more strength to the images.The biggest drama and beauty is in the final intertitle, where the painter, blind again and with his lover dead, writes a note to his friend, his former doctor, saying: “I don’t blame you. Nobody is guilty. The law (God’s) is above us all. But you shall not cure me again. You gave me a gift of light and I could see her. Now I come back again to my night.”

We are facing an exceptional movie, a great masterpiece, one of the early film works of an unique author, one of the most exceptional cinematographic directors provided by the history of cinema.

And now, if you allow me, I have to leave you momentarily due to the fact that this Germanic count has to go back to his dark and Teutonic night.